put in ceiling or leave open to lofted ceilings?

I have an outside shed that is 12 x 12 feet. I'm creating a 2 chamber grow room - one for veg and one for flower. In the flower room, which will be about 8 feet by 12 feet, I could put in a cieling at about 9 feet with plywood on the cieling rafters, or just leave it open so that when you look up you see the lofted attic area. For cost and speed of getting this thing up and running, I'd rather just leave it open and have lofted cielings that would be about 15 feet at the highest point. But, is this a mistake? Would it be better to put a lid in and have a smaller, more isolated flower room? The walls will be insulated and there is currently no insulation in the attic area.

If I do put a cieling up, which will cost more time and money, I'll have some storage space for supplies and could put some of my electronics and ballasts up there and maybe some of my filters, potential air conditioning unit if I end up needing it, scrubber, etc. ??

Thanks for any input you can provide.

redburns said:

I have an outside shed that is 12 x 12 feet. I'm creating a 2 chamber grow room - one for veg and one for flower. In the flower room, which will be about 8 feet by 12 feet, I could put in a cieling at about 9 feet with plywood on the cieling rafters, or just leave it open so that when you look up you see the lofted attic area. For cost and speed of getting this thing up and running, I'd rather just leave it open and have lofted cielings that would be about 15 feet at the highest point. But, is this a mistake? Would it be better to put a lid in and have a smaller, more isolated flower room? The walls will be insulated and there is currently no insulation in the attic area.

If I do put a cieling up, which will cost more time and money, I'll have some storage space for supplies and could put some of my electronics and ballasts up there and maybe some of my filters, potential air conditioning unit if I end up needing it, scrubber, etc. ??

Thanks for any input you can provide.

Click to expand...

If you are going to grow year round, put in a ceiling. Your lights maybe all the heat you need in the winter because ceiling tiles are insulation. Have you considered a drop ceiling? It may cost less than using wood and is insulated. I't also VERY easy to make cuts in ceiling tiles to allow ducts or whatever to pass through. The grids are suspended by wires that you can secure to the rafters, to help support hoods. Either way you decide to go, I'd create a ceiling to allow for easier environmental control. You can still place some plywood runners about 2' x 6' on top of the grids to support your ballasts and keep their heat out of the room if desired.

A drop ceiling materials calculator is available here... http://www.csgnetwork.com/dropceilingcalc.html

A Commercial building supply center can offer the materials cheaper than a home improvement center if you are interested.


You are also going to have to consider pests. Make sure you silicone seal EVERY seam and possible entry point. They will find a way in, but you can minimize their entry points and control them better. Flora-mite and no pest strips may be sufficient.

Good luck and if you can, snap us some pics.

Thank you Serapis. That makes perfect sense. Here's a pic of the room:



You can see the main floor, the loft area above, and the 2x4 on the wall is where the wall between the veg and flower rooms will be. Veg will be 4x6 feet and flower room will be about 7.5 x 11 feet.

I think I am going to put sheeting on top of the cieling joists so it will be a floor in the attic area. So in the flower room, the cieling will be the exposed wood cieling joists with the sheeting in between and on top of them. Should be easy to hang things then.

Thanks for the advice about pests, I'm worried about that. I did think about sheet rocking and fire taping the room, so I could really seal it up, but am avoiding the sheet rock work.

I done it both ways for different reasons,,,,

The enclosed ceiling is in a bigger room for Flowering,,,,

The 12x12x12 I left open to be able to hang two 1000 watt light on a mover,,,

I did a split chamber in the 12x12 a while back but just not enough room,,,

I'll dig out some pics

plastic and a few 2x4, any room any size. almost instantly airtight, with some great stuff

I like the idea of the reverse ceiling. That should be cheaper and just as effective. I tend to overdesign...